Door fastener



March 26, 1957 DOOR FASTENER Filed Aug. 25, 1955 G. W. SLOPA ETAL I W ll LQ?.

United States Patent DOORFASTENER George Slopa-.andRobert -E.` Slopa-,Haryard, Ill.- AllplatiollAugust 23,1955, Serial No; 530,076 szonims.(cl: 29e-79) This invention, relates toA door fasteners and` particu.-larly to;.fas teners;for1refrigeratorA doors and the like.

` In order; to minimize warpage, of the door andprovidea. tightsealaround the periphery ofjthe' latter, a.

,pluralityiof fasteners are frequently, locatedjtov engage thejperipheryof -the door atv spaced pointsv thereon, which-v fasteners are.movedintoand out of position mengagement with i the door in response.to opening and. closingi ofthe door.A and are arrangedto yieldablyyurgethedoor It isA an,` important object ofv this improved1mountinggforthe fastenerand the strike plate to permit positive adjustment of theposition of the fastener and strike plate to adapt the same fordifferent applications)angina-accommodate.changesin the door andsdoorrsealing gasket which occur during use.

`These,--together,v. with .various,. ancillary,y objects and-advantagesbf this invention will bennore readily appreciated asf thesame becomes better understood .by referencezto the'following detaileddescription when: taken in; connection; with the accompanying: drawings;

Figure l is a plan view of the fastener;

Fig.` 2 is' a plan view of the keeper;

Fig. 3 is a sectionalviewfthroughuthe fastener and keeper;

Fig.` 4 isa fragmentary View through the mounting ange on the doorfastener, taken on the plane 4-4 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the locking pads for retainingthe fastener in a preselected adjusted position.

Reference is now made more specifically to the door fastener 8 andkeeper 9 shown in the accompanying drawings. The fastener includes ahousing having spaced side walls 10, a top wall 11 and a rear wall 12.The

housing is open at the front and bottom thereof and is formed withoutwardly extending mounting flanges 13 formed on the lower ends of eachof the side walls. The anges are arranged for mounting the door fasteneron the frame 15, of a cooler or the like, and are preferably formed withelongated openings 16 for the reception of a lag screw or bolt 17. Inorder to permit adjustment and positive locking of the door fastener ina preselected position on the frame, the upper surfaces of the flanges13 are serrated in a direction transversely of the opening 16, asindicated at 18 and a pad 19 having complementary serrations 20 formedon the under surface thereof is disposed on the bolt or lag screw 17 andarranged to engage the serrations in the mounting ICC flanges.' A's-theelagJ screw' is" tightened,"` theg serrations on the pad' and` ilangeiintermesl'r-and thereby' lock the# in the side walls 10 of the housing,which openingsare-V located adjacenrther lower front corner of thesidewalls' whereby: the latch member is swingably supportedfon the sidevwallsforl movementftherebetween. A--pairf'of spacedearsz26' areformedjon the-latch member 22"andi extend^forwardly therefrom; asbestshown in Figs; 1`A` anc-13. A roller 27 is-di'sposedibetween the ears'26and journaled* on a pir'r- 28"' carriedl by4 the'vears.

Provision is made for'yieldably'urging the 4rollery on` the llatchmember into engagementiwith theA keeper: andl for this purpose, an arm3-1^is formed' on the'latchmem'- ber 22 and extends transversely thereofinto theY housing inspacedl relationl to theftopfwall 11. A spring-32'is disposed in the housing: and engages the latch arm to` urge' theklatter 'insa counterclockwiseA direction as 'viewed'l in` Fig."A 3 tothereby` move theroller 27 outwardly of` the housing. Asshown,vthespring 32 is a coil spring' which' engages the underside 'ofthe arm31 and, in ac-` cordance with thevpresent invention, provision'isr'made" foradjustingthe compressionof the spring 32 to thereby;selectively vary the pressure. applied by the roller. Forv this purposethere is`provided. a bolt 34' which loosely extends through an opening35 in the top wall 1'1' andv throught-an elongated opening 36 in the arm31 into the housing.` An abutment`37 here shown in the form; of a nutliavingj an integral collar 38 formed thereon'V is threadedlyattached'to the threadedlower end 39of', thebo'lttov permit,adjustmentof the abutment toward and `away from the arm 31. The spring32'isdisposed' aroundLthecollar 38 and'around the bolt 34, between thenut 37l andthearm 31; The bolt 34 is arranged' to'be .turnedby means of'the head"34a` thereon located externally of' the housing. A tongue 41is providedon' the latch member 22 .to extend rearwardly. thereof, and'has a-"face 41aon the rear edge' thereof 'engageable with theperipheryoff the nut37 to prevent. rotation of the:

latter V'when the boltfis `tu`rn`ed to adjust'the position' of` the,'abiltment.

The .keeper 9 isadapted to be mounted ona door 46 which-as shown, is ofthe type which. overlaps the frame .15. As isconventionaLa sealing,gasket or. strip 4T" is 'interposed between the door and the frame toform a seal thereat when the door is closed. The keeper includes amounting base 48 having a transversely extending channel 49 formedintegrally therewith. A block 51 is slidably disposed in the channel anda nose portion 52 is formed on the block and positioned to engage theroller 27 of the fastener. In order to permit the block and keeper to beadjusted and positively locked in an adjusted position with respect tothe door, the inner face of the channel 49 is transversely serrated asindicated at 53 and the registering face 54 of the block iscorrespondingly serrated to provide interlocking teeth on the abuttingfaces. Studs 55 extend through elongated slots 56 in the channel and arethreaded into the block S1 to draw the serrated faces of the block andchannel together and secure the block in its adjusted position.

The nose portion 52 of lthe keeper 4is formed with `beveled faces 57 and58 which intersect in a tip port-ion 59. The beveled face 57 is arrangedto engage the roller 27 as the door 46 is moved to its closed positionto cam opera-te the roller out of the path yof movement of the keeper,As the tip portion 59 passes the high point of the roller, the rollermoves outwardly over the beveled Series@ 58.19 deposition shewn in .Fsf

A stop is provided for limiting movement of the latch member outwardlyof the housing and, as best shown in Eig. `31includes a pair ofinwardlyv extending ianges ,61, on the side wallsadjacentthe openend ofthe housingQwhicli flanges are disposed :in the pathof movement of thelatch member. v

From the foregoing it is apparent that the spring 32 extends alongsidethe latch member 22 and engages the arm 31 which extends transversely ofthe .atch member thereby providing a compact latch arrangement. Thelatch member, arm and spring are mounted in an enclosing housing in amanner to permit adjustment of the compression of the spring fromexternally of the housing. Furthenthe housing is mounted for adjustmentin the plane of lthe door'frarne for adjustment toward and away from thedoor to accommodate expansion or contraction of the latter and thekeeper is mounted for adjustment in a direction transverse to the planeof the door to compensate for changes in the .thickness of rthe doorseal gasket andthe like, as occur during use.

We claim:

1. A door fastener comprising a housing having spaced side walls and atop wall and open at the front thereof, an L-shaped latch memberincluding first 'and second legs, said first leg extending along theopen front of said housing between said side walls, means pivotallymounting the free end of said first leg on said side walls adjacent saidopen front or" the housing and at a point remote from said top wall,said second leg extending transverse to said first leg into said housingin spaced relation to said top wall, a roller mounted on said latchmember at the juncture of said legs 4and projecting through the openfront of said housing, said second leg having an opening thereinadjacent the end remote from said open front of the housing, a boltextending through said top wall and through Asaid opening in said secondieg and into said housing alongside said tirst leg, a spring disposedaround said bolt and engaging the underside of said second leg forurging vthe latch member in a direc-tion to move said roller out of theopen front of said housing, and a nut threaded on said bolt engaging thelower end of said spring to permit adjustment of said spring in responseto turning of said bol-t.

2. A door fastener comprising a housing having spaced side walls and atop wall and `open at the front thereof, `an L-shaped latch memberincluding iirst and second legs, said i'irst leg extending along theopen front of said housing between said side wall-s, means pivotallymounting the free end of said irst leg on said side walls adjacent saidopen front of the housing and at a point remote from said top wall, saidsecond leg extending transverse to said I rst leg into said housingfinspaced relation to said top wall, a roller mounted on said latch memberat the juncture of said legs andprojecting Ithrough the open'front -ofsaid housing, said second leg having an opening -therein adjacent theend remote from said open fron-t of the housing, a bolt extendingthrough said top wall and through said opening in said second leg andinto said housing alongside said rst leg, a spring disposed around saidbolt and engaging the underside of said sec-ond leg for urging the latchmember in a direction to move said roller out of the open front of saidhousing, a nu-t threaded on said bolt engaging the lower end of saidspring to permit adjust1 ment of said spring in response -to turning ofsaid bolt, and a tongue formed on said `first leg engageable with saidnut to prevent Iturning of the latter as the bolt is turned to vary thecompression of the spring.

3. A door fastener comprising a housing having spaced side walls and atop wall and open at the fron-t thereof, an Lshaped latch memberincluding iirst and second legs, said first leg extending along the openfront of said housing between said side walls, means pivotally mountingthe free end of said tirst leg on said side walls adjacent said openfront of the housing land `at a point remote from said top wall, saidsecond leg extending `transverse to said rst leg into said housing inspaced relation to said top wall, a pair of spaced ears formed on saidfirst leg adjacent -the junc ture of said first and second legs andvextending from the side of said first leg opposite said second leg, aroller mounted between said ears and projecting through the open frontof said housing, said second leg having an opening therein adjacent theend remote from said open front of the housing, a bolt extending throughsaid top wall and through said opening in said second leg and into saidhousing alongside said rst leg, a spring disposed around said bolt andengaging the underside of said second leg forurging the latch member in-a direction to move said roller out of the open fron-t ofsaid housing,`and a nut threaded on said bolt engaging the lower'end of said spring`to permit adjustment of said -spring in respouse to turning of saidbolt.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS116,706 Halsey July 4, 187.1'

954,324 Mooney Apr.5, 1910 1,180,814 Ziganek Apr. 25, 1916 1,498,668Meadows June 24, 1924 1,537,703 Rubin May 12, 1925 FOREIGN PATENTS19,365 Sweden Aug. 12, 1904

